Monterey County and the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea are potentially vulnerable to a wide range of natural and man-made hazards. These hazards can threaten the life and safety of residents and visitors and have the potential to damage or destroy both public and private property and disrupt the local economy and overall quality of life. While the threats from hazard events may never be fully eliminated, there is much that can be done to lessen their potential impact. The purpose of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) is to help residents and the region better prepare for and respond to wildfires.  The CWPP will be used to determine effective, prioritized wildfire mitigation and fuel reduction projects and to assist in qualifying for state and federal grant funding.

In 2022, the City of Monterey’s, Pacific Grove’s and Carmel-by-the-Sea’s city councils expressed a desire to complete a joint CWPP due to the increase in wildfires across California.  The project, coordinated by the Monterey Fire Department, began in November of 2022 and the final document was completed in November 2023.  The cities created a working group with stakeholders from each city and selected Dudek as the consultant for the project. The final project resulted in a comprehensive CWPP document including a recommended action plan and an online story map with interactive maps and wildfire modeling which is still active today. The following tasks were conducted for the completion of the CWPP:

• Dudek came onsite for a field assessment and reviewed existing reports, documents, and local policies to better understand the fire environment in the plan area.

• GIS maps were created to model hazards and risks related to wildfire.

• A public survey was conducted in English and Spanish for public input on wildfire risk areas, preparedness and what the cities can do to help prepare.

• The CWPP working group met monthly for input.

• The Monterey Fire Department also met monthly with Dudek for project coordination.

• Three (3) community workshops were held for in-person public input (1 workshop was held in each city).

• A community presentation of the CWPP was held on June 1st, at Carpenter Hall.

With the completion of a CWPP, the Monterey Fire Department is actively pursuing grant opportunities. The city will be a higher priority for grants with an adopted CWPP.

Therefore, staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached resolution (Attachment 1) adopting the Community Wildfire Protection Plan completed for the cities of Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Carmel-by-the-Sea (Attachment 2).